Zanardi announces move to F1

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1998 | 9:31 a.m.

Two-time CART series champion Alex Zanardi ended months of speculation today by announcing he is leaving the American open-wheel racing series to drive for the Williams Grand Prix team in the Formula One World Championship.

A teammate of Las Vegas' Jimmy Vasser with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing for the past three years, Zanardi has won six races this season and clinched his second consecutive PPG Cup championship two weeks ago in Vancouver.

"It was certainly a hard decision to leave Target/Chip Ganassi Racing ... but my life is changing and I feel really at peace with myself," Zanardi said. "I just realized that it is time to try to do something else and in order to do it in the best way possible, I decided to drive for what I think is, if not the best, one of the best teams in Formula One."

Zanardi, who has won 14 races in his three seasons in CART, began his professional racing career in go-karts in his native Italy in 1980. He spent parts of the 1991 and 1992 seasons in Formula One as a replacement driver before getting a full-time ride with Lotus in 1993.

His inaugural season with Lotus was cut short due to an accident and in 1994, he began the season as a test driver for Lotus. He moved back into the F1 series later that year when lead driver Pedro Lamy was injured. Shortly after Zanardi returned to the seat, Lotus folded its operation due to insurmountable debts.

Zanardi said unfinished business in F1 was not the driving force behind his decision to return to the international series.

"It's what drives us all in life: you achieve something and then you want something more, you're never happy enough," Zanardi said. "If you don't have desire to go even further and you get happy with that you have, you're not prepared to drive anymore and you better give up.

"I certainly have everything a driver could dream with Target/Chip Ganassi ... what you want more is to try to enter into a new challenge and that is what Formula One presents for me."

Zanardi signed a three-year contract with Williams, but the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ganassi, who signed 1996 PPG Cup champion Vasser to a new three-year contract earlier this month, said he will be in no hurry to name a replacement for Zanardi.

"I don't want to get into any names right now, but there are a lot of good drivers available," Ganassi said. "In the situation we're in, where we've had some success the last few years, I really don't feel a burning need to name someone today or tomorrow.

"I think we're in the fortunate position where we can pick and choose a little bit."